The illusion of health food is a major issue, like Laur said, the kneejerk is "Eat whole grains and less fat!!" Uhhh. They've even done that with kid's cereal - slap a "NOW MADE WITH WHOLE GRAIN!" logo on it because that's 'healthy!!' Sigh.

Really, what bothers me about this project is that she claims to not care what people think about her, but she clearly does. She very obviously minds because she looks at these photos and what she sees is "this person is judging me because of my weight" rather than "this person is looking at the same shop window I'm standing in front of" or "these people are looking at me because I'm sitting on a swing looking sad."
What bothers me is that no matter what she claims, she feels bad about herself, SO BAD that she's created an entire art project devoted to highlighting how bad she feels about herself.

Even worse, it seems there's some kind of twisted joy in "these people are judging me" so much that she specifically goes out and sets up scenarios to bait people into looking at her in a less-than-positive way... because somehow it validates how bad she feels about herself if she can "catch" other people judging her? "See, they're looking at me and mocking me because I'm fat. I'm such a fat slob."

Her emotional state related to this project just makes me really sad. It's not like she's even really unattractive, though the fact that she's scowling or looking sad in most of these photos doesn't help. I bet she's quite pretty when she smiles or laughs.

This is a good post, it is also slightly bothersome she sought out these photos out of hundreds she snapped, like she was hoping for judgements to put on blast.

It's fascinating but more in a photography sense and psychology sense, to me, like how people react to photo shoots and which photos she picks from said photo shoots and why.

The illusion of health food is a major issue, like Laur said, the kneejerk is "Eat whole grains and less fat!!" Uhhh. They've even done that with kid's cereal - slap a "NOW MADE WITH WHOLE GRAIN!" logo on it because that's 'healthy!!' Sigh.

Really, what bothers me about this project is that she claims to not care what people think about her, but she clearly does. She very obviously minds because she looks at these photos and what she sees is "this person is judging me because of my weight" rather than "this person is looking at the same shop window I'm standing in front of" or "these people are looking at me because I'm sitting on a swing looking sad."
What bothers me is that no matter what she claims, she feels bad about herself, SO BAD that she's created an entire art project devoted to highlighting how bad she feels about herself.

Even worse, it seems there's some kind of twisted joy in "these people are judging me" so much that she specifically goes out and sets up scenarios to bait people into looking at her in a less-than-positive way... because somehow it validates how bad she feels about herself if she can "catch" other people judging her? "See, they're looking at me and mocking me because I'm fat. I'm such a fat slob."

Her emotional state related to this project just makes me really sad. It's not like she's even really unattractive, though the fact that she's scowling or looking sad in most of these photos doesn't help. I bet she's quite pretty when she smiles or laughs.

I agree. You can't just come up with correlations and consider them to be the truth. "People are staring at me because I'm fat" isn't the case, IMO.

It's like saying "People who sleep more live longer." So, if I increase my sleep from 8 hours a day to 10 hours, I'll definitely live to see 90.

Look at this photo:

She's holding a massive map in the middle of a crowd. I would be staring too.

And this one:

It's downright depressing. She looks sad and is sitting alone at a table sulking.

She also says that she's been to multiple countries and cities and has been doing this project over the course of a year.

So, in theory, she has probably taken hundreds of photos. One session with my dogs results in 100+ photos... and I can narrow it down to a handful of really good ones.

What I'm getting at is that out of the many photos she's probably taken, only ~15 are ones where she feels mocked.

Where are people pointing and laughing at her? Where are the photos of people making hand gestures to show the curves of her body? Where are the photos of people rolling around and laughing at her?

Most of the photos I see are of people glancing at her because she's doing things that are obviously drawing in stares.

If I were to walk outside on a busy street and open up a huge map, I'd guarantee I'd get that same picture (and I'm a 115lb person). If I were to sit at lunch alone, I'd get people to glance my way. If I was walking down the street eating an ice cream cone, I'm sure people would look to see what it is.

It's human nature for people to glance. Especially when you're in cities with a HUGE melting pot of different cultures. Really, she's setting up these shoots in NYC where people from all over the world visit- and like I said earlier, it's common for people in other cultures to stare. It's just normal for them.

I think it's a great project and does help keep people liable for how they interact with other human beings.

BUT while I agree that thin privilege and the hate women feel for their bodies and eachother is a serious issue and I do feel that in some of those pictures,people were being truly awful.
I also, as someone who lives in the city and walks around a lot, think that a lot of those people were just looking up and walking..and I don't really think those people deserve to be featured without their permission in such a public forum.

That said, I have no idea how much hate or what she feels walking around in public and who am I to say these people weren't looking at her in a certain way or the picture didn't hold more of a story.

My feelings about the project are mostly good, and I do think it's an important issue
..but I also feel there are some innocent bystanders in those photos.
but who knows.

Either way, it's a great project.

EDIT AGAIN:
I think part of my uncomfortableness with the whole thing honestly is just me facing my privilege on this issue..
Maybe she is that mocked in her everyday life, maybe there is more to those pictures than we can see..

I agree with this, there were only a couple of pics that I could see that could be laughing/looks directed at her. I have also gotten looks like this in passing & I (at least I don't think I am lol) ugly or fat ... I just think its people more being nosy or just noticing she isn't from the area. (more like "oh ... She must be a tourist" looks then "OMG an ugly fat person!" Looks.

If she truly didn't care she wouldn't feel the need to document it IMHO. I also think its wrong to exploit people, saying they are horrible, bad, insensitive people when there is no way to know from a picture what they are thinking ... That's what's wrong with society today.

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Also in the series of photos Fran posted from the blog my first impression was that people were giving her looks because she was standing completely still in the middle of a busy sidewalk. THAT'S ANNOYING!!!!!! lol

I have been in all kinds of sizes in my life. Once I hit puberty and got my boobs and curves I was pretty steadily a size 12 but I was in great shape (I wrestled in highschool and was pretty competitive so I worked out A LOT). sure I was picked on about being "fat" a time or two but it was mostly just catty teenage drama stuff. I don't believe they really thought I was fat, I just wasn't rail thin and they needed some insult to fling because that's just how it was in highschool if you weren't in the "in" crowd.

I've been up to a size 22 and 250 lbs... probably about the size of the woman in this blog. I can't really say I ever felt like people were laughing at me or mocking me. I don't recall ever seeing anything that stood out but then... I wasn't looking for it either. I feel like I didn't get that kind of attention because even though I was obese I was still pleasant, always had a smile on my face and was friendly to everyone I met. So people were drawn to that and not focused on how my body looked.

NOW I am a size 16 and in a lot better shape. I am still 183 and I have more weight to lose to be where I feel I should be to be healthy and apparently I get a lot more looks from the opposite sex lol but I honestly don't notice it myself. Brian notices it more than I do and he loves it LOL. He's always like "heck yeah... she's hot, you should stare at her" LOL

Actually the biggest difference I have noticed with people commenting is when I changed my hair to red. People compliment my hair ALL THE TIME now lol. it's weird lol

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I could very easily be pictured as one of the people "mocking" her. I people watch all the time and make smirky faces while I'm doing it. If you're standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a camera pointed at you I'm going to look to see what you're doing. Also I would probably make faces at her outfits in most of these (which is entirely hypocritical of me, it's not like I wear perfectly coordinated outfits....ever).

I think she's seeing what she expects to see in these photos. Which is really sad.

Jeez lol if there was a camera trained on me at all times the caption would be "most hateful man in the world" lol. My relaxed face is a scowl. I posted a picture once on FB that was me frowning, and everyone was alarmed by how angry I look in the picture. A few people called me scary.

I have no doubt anyone who makes eye contact with me randomly probably immediately feels self conscious or criticized. My dad had that effect, and as a boss, everyone who looks into the office when I am reading something or just idly browsing the internet immediately assumes I am in a bad mood and leaves.

Don't get me wrong, overweight people do have it rough. I have an employee that used to be 400lb a year ago, and is now 300. He said the public reaction was incredible, and he isn't even close to "thin" yet. So it gets propotionally worse.

I mean the stomach slaping thing. Is she really making fun of her? I frequently slap my own stomach when just idle. I also stretch, and do other really random things.

I do feel she is assuming a lot there, but I agree that this sort of thing *does* happen.

She's obese, but not to the extent that I'd make a mental note of it, seeing her in a crowd. I see people her size all the time where I live. I'm more an abnormality at my my size (I'm pretty slim) than she is. I'd probably look at her because she's doing obviously out-of-place activities. It's also quite possible that I'd look at her just because she's there.

I don't know.. I think all this shows is that just because you're thin doesn't mean you are not judged. I mean, really, she's judging these people, saying they're mocking her, when they're doing nothing but being thinner than she is.

__________________Ella: 3 year old female ferretNacho: ~8 year old male ferretApollo: 5 year old male ferretSummer: 5 year old female ferretGoodbye, Rosey. You were the best girl I could have asked for. 10/15/96-03/08/13

I got the idea to paint in gaze directions. I could be completely off, but here's what I see.

In that last one...a giant map, really? USE YOUR PHONE. IT HAS GPS. (There's a picture of her with a smart phone. It's got to have some sort of navigation on it). I feel like the guy in the middle is getting ready to cross the path, and doesn't want to run into people...so guess what? HE'S LOOKING TO SEE IF THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE WAY.

As far as kids and sad people on swings...

OH NOES, the kid's starting at the Doctor! It must be because he's fat and she hates him! It can't possibly be because he looks depressed, is wearing a ridiculous outfit, is old and sitting on a swing, or is A ****ING ALIEN.

People think they're making a healthy decision when they order "just a salad," but in reality they're eating just as many calories than the "bad" foods on the menu.

YES! We have Chili's for staff meetings on occasion, and one of my coworkers always ordered the Quesadilla Explosion salad becuase "It's a salad, it's healthy!" (I order it because it taste good and isn't spicy lol). THAT SALAD HAS 1370 CALORIES AND 89 GRAMS OF CARBS! That is not healthy! http://www.chilis.com/EN/LocationSpe...%20Generic.pdf